Stuck In Milwaukee

I wanted to do a post with tips on doing a mic check, but since I’m not incredibly experienced with singing, I decided to give this post to a guest writer…

by: Paul Karcz – singer for Spiral Trance
Most of the time I bring my own mic which is a Shure SM 58, a pretty standard vocal mic. I use it because I know it sounds good for me and I know I won’t be swapping spit with the band before me.
Because I’m also playing guitar and piano, I make sure I do my sound check on my instruments FIRST so I get good stage volume with the rest of the band.
Then I’ll check the mics that I’m singing on (since it’s usually two different mics for either side of the stage). *In some songs Paul plays keyboards. During these songs he switches to stage right where the keyboard is located, and I move to center stage. So our mic checks are a bit more complicated since we have 3 vocal mics across the front, one of which changes from backing vox to main vox.*
The first thing I listen for is volume, and I always want it to be just above the stage volume mix. Too loud and I find that I’m not projecting my vocal enough, too quiet and I’m straining my voice to hear and risk blowing it out during the second song.
I also listen for enough eq in the monitors, making sure it’s not too bass heavy and muffled, and also not to “tinny” sounding or too much high end. Either one of those frequencies can cause major feedback on stage when stepping up to the microphone causing a horrible vocal situation. The eq should be relatively flat with minor boosts across the spectrum so no feedback occurs and you have ample headroom to play with volume.

On another note, turning the guitar cabs toward each other on opposite sides of the stage, called side washing, in a club setting can greatly help a sound guy eliminate feedback coming thru the mics and it also allows the band a little more stage volume for themselves. Keep in mind when you do this, you may have to require a little bit of your instrument to be brought into the according monitors to even out the overall stage volume etc. Remember though if you’re playing bigger stages and outdoor shows, side-washing is not suggested as it will create a “tunnel” like effect and you won’t be able to hear your instruments well enough over the monitor mix. The sound guy will have to really boost your instrument signals in the monitors which means that he’ll have to keep boosting your vocal mixes as well which can cause feedback. Remember, there’s no sound quite like the original sound of your amplifer cabinet on stage as opposed to an eq’ed signal blaring back at you through stage monitors half their size.

Lastly, make sure if you can, to run through a song or two, or even a part of a song. This is so important, not only for the sound guy, but the band as well. You will be able to hear everything that needs to be adjusted as the band is playing together. Everything sounds different when mics are not being checked individually! Volume levels do change as the band plays together, so make sure you work it out when you can!